“Alright, this is the training room.”
The place that the Philia Professor led us to was an enormous space, ranging from ordinary exercise equipment to a climbing wall visible in the distance.
“Each of you may have your strengths, but before that, I’m going to develop your basic physical fitness and abilities.”
“Oh…”
Indeed, if I were to put more strength into my body, it might be easier to dodge an opponent’s attack.
“Uh… so are we all doing the same training?”
“No, obviously not.”
She shook her head and looked at the male student as if to say, “How could that be?”
“I previously tested your physical strength and abilities with the device that Isaac used, so we can proceed this way. First, come out, the one I call.”
The first student called stepped forward for the training…
“You… are you the type to enhance your arms? Then try lifting this.”
“Eh? This?”
Bam!!!
In front of him was a massive square cube.
Instinctively, I sensed that the solid chunk of metal weighed at least several tons even without touching it.
What was even more shocking was that the professor had effortlessly pulled it out as if it were a feather.
“Insane grip strength…”
The part of the iron she held was slightly bent and contorted in her grasp.
“How… is this possible?”
“That’s your assignment for this week. Don’t use levers or any tricks, just push it at least 1 meter.”
“…Understood.”
The male student wore an expression filled with despair but couldn’t bring himself to protest to the professor.
I wondered if it were even possible for a human to do that in the first place, but perhaps she wouldn’t throw it at him if it weren’t.
However, the training that followed was all on a bizarre level.
Most of the physical training involved pulling or pushing weights ranging from several tons to dozens of tons in a rudimentary way.
Students using magic or mystique were continuously expending all their power until they were completely exhausted, then recovering by taking potions repeatedly.
“Ugh!!!”
“Yikes!!!”
It was truly a horrific sight to see the guys who would have been considered decent-looking in the previous world turning red-faced and dying with their veins bulging.
And soon, it was my turn.
I was incredibly anxious about what was going to happen, but since I was the last, there were no people around, and there was nowhere to hide.
“Ugh…”
“Our proud recommended entrant!”
“Ugh…”
The other students training turned to look at the professor’s words.
“You are… hmm? Useless? Something seems off, did you bring the wrong paper?”
“No, that’s probably right.”
After all, I had come out as useless twice before.
“Hmm… that shouldn’t be.”
I also didn’t understand why I came out as useless.
Typically, at least some physical ability should show, but getting “useless” means literally [useless].
That implies there’s no difference from an ordinary person on the street.
I thought about this but still didn’t know the exact reason.
Perhaps the device didn’t recognize my traits, but the likelihood of that was low.
“Hmm… that guy, still talented but broken… Let’s do an experiment.”
“An experiment?”
“Yes.”
The professor grinned, showing her teeth, and for some reason, her sparkling canines were frightening.
.
.
.
.
Boom!
What in the world was that sound?
Just by hitting the gloves with both hands, I felt the pressure wave on this side.
“Ugh…”
The place where the professor and I were was similar to the previous sparring room.
However, the fact that we were inside a training room made it somewhat different.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let you get hurt.”
“I don’t trust you at all…”
Someone who can crumple iron with their bare hands and lift dozens of tons with one arm says that?
Even if she said she wouldn’t hurt me, it was instinctively terrifying.
“Gah… I understand…”
At the very least, I couldn’t keep running away if I were to survive in this world.
I wanted to avoid fighting as much as possible, but escaping from such training would make it impossible to live properly.
“I’ll give it a try…”
[Current Intoxication: 3%]
Since I had somewhat adapted to the intoxication, I wouldn’t be caught slurring my words from the alcohol.
Although my head still ached…
However, if we talked closely, they could smell the alcohol, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Then.”
Thud.
“…Huh?”
I merely blinked once, yet the professor had disappeared from my sight.
Where did she go…
.
.
.
.
Boom!!!
“Wait, Power Release??”
And then, an immediate counterattack was unleashed.
The explosion echoing throughout the training room drew everyone’s attention, and the shock was so great that those further away lost their balance.
It wasn’t the same level of counterattack used on the giant before, but it was definitely a powerful strike.
However, despite the Power Release being used, the professor still was not visible in my sight.
Too fast?
That’s part of it, but not being visible at all meant that the professor was entirely moving in my blind spot.
“Behind…!!”
I swiftly kicked backward, but there was no one there.
Swish.
Instinctually, my head ducked.
And I felt a massive presence above me.
Boom!!!
That sound implied that if I hadn’t dodged just now, I would have been seriously harmed.
“Hey… you said you’d give me a break!!!”
“Oh?”
I yelled with a trembling voice, which prompted the professor’s intrigued response.
Finally, I focused my attack on the muscular form briefly visible in front of me, but…
Boom!!
“Ugh!!”
Just like last time with Yoon Si-woo, or even more solid than that, the texture hit my hand and transmitted the shock.
Why does it hurt when I hit? So unfair.
“Interesting.”
As I barely dodged the series of attacks by twisting my body, the pressure was too intense.
There had been a chance that appeared once.
‘This time…!’
Originally, that chance was not a chance at all.
It merely created a position for both prey and predator within the effective range.
‘A trap.’
Even so, I attacked to accumulate damage, but the professor wasn’t fazed and stepped down.
Boom!!
The impact on the sparring room floor radiated outward from her foot.
“How will you respond to this?”
“………!”
Why does it feel like when watching an anime, the scene where a giant fist overshadows the background?
I think it was about some bald superhero, but I don’t remember well.
However, I do remember not understanding it back then.
Is it right for a fist to look this huge just for survival?
This doesn’t make any sense.
It was already wrong to think like that while watching an anime, but now I understood.
“………”
That pressure was real.
If Yoon Si-woo was a steep cliff that couldn’t be climbed, then the professor was the sky with no handholds at all.
I fully felt this gap.
There was no place to dodge.
No matter how I moved, I would be hit by that attack.
And once I got hit, it would all be over.
Then…
‘Let go of what you need to let go of.’
Trade flesh for bones?
No, bones—there’s nothing I could sacrifice. I had to choose between giving up flesh or bones.
I chose flesh in this choice.
I minimized the area of my body that would be hit by an unavoidable attack. That part was my left arm.
I formed all these thoughts and actions in the quickest time possible.
“Ugh…”
In the moment before the coming pain.
Boom!!!!!!!!
The professor’s fist stopped right in front of my left hand while she smiled brightly.
“Why, did you really think I would hit you?”
“Ugh… ha…”
Finally, the tension released.
In the pressure, I momentarily forgot that it was an experiment by the professor and fought with full force.
Although it was closer to struggling to survive than actually fighting, it was commendable that I managed to survive.
“Yeah, you definitely are something weird.”
Then, perhaps having grasped the situation roughly, the professor started to explain to me, lying there in cold sweat and tension.
“What do you mean…?”
“The first attack, that wasn’t even meant to see your reaction. I wanted to see how well you gauged the distance between you and me.”
In simpler terms, it was a fake attack like a jab.
No wonder I was flustered when that fast attack from the professor didn’t deliver much power.
“But you managed to counterattack even without realizing it. Isn’t that a strange thing?”
“………”
“After that, it was similar; you didn’t even see my attacks, yet you evaded from a complete blind spot.”
That was probably the evasive maneuver of Drunken Fist.
“That’s why I tried to absolutely prevent you from dodging, but you completely gave up on evasion; that surprised me a bit.”
“Why?”
“Usually, those who excel at dodging will still find a way to escape even when there’s no space left and end up getting hit and dying.”
“………”
Oh, the idea of fainting isn’t dying—they’re savage words…
“Yeah, I’ve seen many of those. But you immediately gave up a part of your body instead. That judgment is something even veterans in this field would find hard to make.”
“Is that so?”
In fact, positively, it would mean “let go of what you should let go of,” but conversely, it means maximizing the loss of what shouldn’t be lost.
This time, it was merely a successful judgment, but I wasn’t sure what would happen next.
“Anyway, take care of your body. Even if modern technology has improved, recovering from losing an arm is painful.”
“I’m sorry…”
“There’s nothing to apologize for! We just need to do more training so that such a situation doesn’t happen again!”
The professor just answered me with a bright smile.
“Anyway, I’ve thought of a training method that suits you!”
“What is it?”
“Come over here!”
“Yes.”
And I began to follow her as she gestured for me to come along.
